Jane Reads

Thursday, December 1, 2016

The Seven-Course Christmas Killer: A Holiday Novella from the Italian Kitchen | Review

Rosie Genova, author of the Italian Kitchen Mysteries, serves up a new dish this week with the release of her e-book holiday novella, The Seven Course Christmas Killer: A Holiday Novella from the Italian Kitchen. Priced at 99¢, the e-book is available on Amazon and most other retailers.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve, as Vic and the gang prepare the traditional Feast of the Seven Fishes for their annual holiday party. But before you can say “shrimp scampi,” Mayor Anne McCrae takes a nasty fall that may not be an accident. Add a nosy reporter, guests with grudges, and a missing kitchen knife — and Vic suddenly has all the ingredients for murder!

The Blurb

On Christmas Eve, someone might be sleeping with the fishes. . .

It’s December at the Casa Lido, which means only one thing: the Rienzi family’s traditional Christmas Eve celebration, including wine, song, and seven Italian seafood courses. As Victoria and Tim prep scungilli and calamari, Nonna directs the cooking until all is in readiness for the big night.

But the holiday cheer is interrupted by the attempted murder of Mayor Anne McCrae, who asks Vic to investigate. Trouble is, there are as many suspects as there are fishes on the Christmas Eve menu . . .

The Seven-Course Christmas Killer by Rosie Genova
Series: An Italian Kitchen Mystery, #3.5

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Culinary Mystery, Holiday

Publisher: Beyond the Page

Publication Date: November 27, 2016
Print Length: 77 pages

e-Book File Size: 421 KB

The Review

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Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Taste of Christmas by Chelsea Field | Short Story | Review

I just read the best short story, y'all — Taste of Christmas, by Chelsea Field. Let me tell you a little about it.

Synopsis, from Goodreads:

Mistletoe seems a whole lot less romantic once you’ve been poisoned by it. Isobel Avery would know—it’s one of the perks of being an undercover poison taster for the rich and famous. Still, with the weather as cold as it gets in Los Angeles and a hot new date, Izzy has a few ideas on how to keep herself warm this Christmas. They just don’t start under mistletoe.

However, before her cozy plans can come to fruition, she needs to survive meeting her date’s family over Christmas lunch. With a long, awkward road trip that has her wondering whether she’s fallen for the Grinch, a mysterious poisoner intent on killing the holiday spirit, and a Santa’s sackful of secrets she’s not allowed to spill, Izzy will need a Christmas miracle to avoid disaster.

The real question is, will her evening be naughty… or not?

Taste of Christmas by Chelsea Field

Series: An Eat, Pray, Die Humorous Mystery short story, #2.5

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publication Date: November 24, 2016

Publisher: JFP Trust

Print Length: 38 pages

e-Book File Size: 2481 KB

ASIN: B01N468RZO

Author's Website | Facebook | Amazon | Goodreads

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Sunday, November 20, 2016

The Invasive Species by Frankie Bow | Blog Tour with Review, Guest Post, and Giveaway

Frankie Bow is back, with another book in the Molly Barda Mystery series!

The Blurb

Professor Molly Barda is thrilled to be included in a grant to investigate attitudes toward biotechnology. But she immediately finds herself embroiled in the deadly fight between big biotech and anti-GMO activists. When Molly and her best friend Emma Nakamura stumble onto the scene of a brutal murder, they realize that everyone has something to hide — and there are some questions you don’t ask.

The Professor Molly mysteries are the first campus murder mysteries set in Hawaii.

The Invasive Species: In Which Molly Deals With

GMOs, the Paleo Diet, the Big Box Church, Veganism, Yoga, and Marriage

by Frankie Bow

Series: A Professor Molly Mystery, #4
Genre: Cozy Mystery

Publisher: Hawaiian Heritage Press
Publication Date: April 30, 2016
Hardcover: 350 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476217
ISBN-13: 978-1943476213
Paperback: 346 pages
ISBN-10: 1943476209
ISBN-13: 978-1943476206
Kindle: 807 KB File Size
ASIN: B01E6WR8RK
Amazon | B&N | BAM! | IndieBound | Goodreads

The Review

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Friday, November 11, 2016

The Devil’s Flood by Pearl R. Meaker | Blog Tour with Excerpt, Review, Guest Post and Giveaway

The author of The Devil's Hook is back, with another Emory Crawford Mystery!

The Blurb

Sometimes the past won't stay in the past.

Twombly and Golden County’s past and present are bound together by the legend of Sutton House, which vanished during a record flood in 1844. Twombly College has sponsored an archeological team to find the lost house, but therein they discover two mummified men, both with gunshot wounds, and a pistol lying between them.

Add moonshine to the mix when it’s discovered that the old illegal liquor trade is alive and well in Golden County. Teens are the ones drinking it — until there is a murder.

Will Emory and Madison be able to sort myths and rumors from the facts to solve both mysteries?

The Devil’s Flood by Pearl R. Meaker
Series: An Emory Crawford Mystery, #3

Genre: Cozy Mystery

The Excerpt

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Monday, October 31, 2016

Doggone It by Maggie Toussaint | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

Dreamwalker Baxley Powell can’t remember the last time she had such a crappy weekend. A twilight encounter with a ghost dog left her numb and disoriented, her dreamwalker abilities are wiped out, and the sheriff just summoned her to a double homicide.

With no access to the spirit world, Baxley bluffs her way through the crime scene where a movie star’s assistant and a charter boat captain were strung up and bled dry. In a haunted house, no less. Figuring out who killed these people will be a real challenge without her ability to speak to the dead.

Just when Baxley thinks her powers are returning, her dreamwalks malfunction. With the sheriff pushing her to solve the case quickly, Baxley teams up with a dognapping medium to boost her powers.

Suspects include the captain’s good-for-nothing brother, the assistant’s replacement, and, of course, his stalker. All of Sinclair County is on edge, and the media circus isn’t helping. At stake are the movie’s funding, the sheriff’s job, and Baxley’s senses.

Can Baxley safeguard her abilities and solve the case before the killer strikes again?

Haunted houses, lost pirate treasure, conniving in-laws, supernatural baddies, and a determined ghost dog test amateur sleuth Baxley Powell’s mettle in Book Three of Toussaint’s Dreamwalker Series.

Doggone It by Maggie Toussaint
Series: A Dreamwalker Mystery, #3

Genre: Paranormal Mystery

Publisher: Five Star

Publication Date: October 19, 2016
Hardcover: 292 pages
ISBN-10: 143283231X
ISBN-13: 978-1432832315
eBook File Size: 1104 KB
ASIN: B01M4HICXJ

The Review

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Thursday, October 27, 2016

An Act of Murder by Mary Angela | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The Blurb

In the sleepy college town of Copper Bluff, South Dakota, English professor Emmeline Prather is enjoying the start of a new semester. But when one of her students dies working on the fall musical, it disrupts life on the small, quiet campus. Although the police rule the death accidental, Prof. Prather has good reason to suspect foul play.

Unmasking the murderer proves much more challenging than finding dangling participles, so Em recruits fellow English professor Lenny Jenkins for assistance. Together, they comb the campus and vicinity for clues, risking their reputations and possibly their jobs. After an intruder breaks into Em’s house, Lenny advises caution — and perhaps a change of address. Em, on the other hand, is all the more determined to forge ahead, convinced they’re on the brink of an important breakthrough.

An Act of Murder by Mary Angela
Series: A Professor Prather Mystery, #1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Camel Press
Publication Date: October 15, 2016
Paperback: 236 pages
ISBN-10: 1603813756
ISBN-13: 978-1603813754

e-Book File Size: 4713 KB
ASIN: B01M622C3B

The Review

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Thursday, October 6, 2016

Masking for Trouble by Diane Vallere | Blog Tour with Review and Giveaway

The author of A Disguise to Die For is back with another Costume Shop Mystery!

The Blurb

SOMEONE'S GETTING DRESSED UP... TO KILL.

Halloween brings more tricks than treats for costume shop owner Margo Tamblyn in the second in a new cozy series from the national bestselling author of the Material Witness Mysteries.

Halloween conjures up big business for Margo Tamblyn’s costume shop, Disguise DeLimit, but this year, the holiday comes knocking with serious trouble. Venture capitalist Paul Haverford plans to rezone historic downtown into a glitzy commercial area which would push out local business. Margo is set on saving her family’s store, especially after a nasty run-in with the chain-store tycoon, but after Haverford’s body is discovered during a spooky party at the derelict Alexandria Hotel, Margo finds herself dressed as the police’s prime suspect.

Anxious to clear her name, Margo begins hunting down anyone who might have wanted Haverford dead. Between all of his malicious maneuverings, the murdered mogul had buckets of people anxious to see him gone. Now, Margo will have to use every trick in the book to find a cloaked killer — before someone else winds up wearing a death shroud…

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INCLUDES RECIPES AND COSTUME IDEAS!

Masking for Trouble by Diane Vallere
Series: A Costume Shop Mystery, #2
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime / Penguin
Publication Date: October 4, 2016
Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-10: 0425278298
ISBN-13: 978-0425278291

e-Book File Size: 2635 KB
ASIN: B01AHKXIHY